A good title

Do you want to know the best title for a work of music I’ve ever come across?

“Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear”, by Erik Satie. Oddly enough (or perhaps not that surprising after al), the work consists of seven secrio s rather than three.

Eccentricity at its best.

Other runner up titles are “The Unanswered Question” by Charles Ives, “The Wasps” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, or “The Elephant and the Fly” by Florence Schmitt.

These might fit very well with books or paintings, but for music they become highly subjective at the very least.

The problem with putting titles to music and other artworks is that often, the process of creating the work carries an undefined meaning or plan. You aren’t necessarily thinking of a subject when composing a piece, and to be honest, I personally very rarely create a piece with a clear structure or meaning to it.

Therefore, sometimes you end up with a piece of music that means a lot to you on many levels but just not in one that you might shorten to a selection of words; you know, a title.

When I finished my latest short piece for piano and bandoneon, I had no idea how to title it. So, inspired by Satie’s irreverence, I thought I would give it a fresh listen and I would literally choose the first thing that came to my mind as the subject for its title.

I don’t know what you’ll make out of it, but to me, that first thing cruising through my head was funnily appropriate for the piece: Purple Clouds.

So here it is, Purple Clouds. You can listen to it here and let me know if they should’ve been blue or green instead. Or if they shouldn’t have been clouds at all :)

Enjoy, and have a great day,

Claudio.